Handprinter construction

ABSTRACT

An ink reservoir for a stencil printing rockable hand stamp having a rectangularly shaped shallow container with a flanged perimeter outlining an opening in the container and formed in a single smooth arcuate curve, and a generally rectangularly shaped arcuately curved perforated member arranged for removable snug engagement with the opening of the container.

United States Patent [191 McKay HANDPRINTER CONSTRUCTION [75] Inventor:Roderick McKay, Rolling Meadows,

[73] Assignee: Weber Marking Systems, Inc.,

Arlington Heights, 111.

[22] Filed: May 15, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 253,528

[52] US. Cl. 101/125, 101/127.l, 101/328 [51] Int. Cl B4l127/26, B41f15/00 [58] Field of Search .L 101/114, 125, 327, 101/328 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,445,447 2/1923 Pritchard 101/125 1,549,5888/1925 Mason 101/125 2,020,151 11/1935 Madden 101/125 Aug. 14, 19732,043,438 6/1936 Johnson 101/125 3,146,703 9/1964 Mason et al. 101/1253,240,149 3/1966 Doppelt 101/ 125 3,335,660 8/1967 Vosburg 101/1253,570,396 3/1971 Schwartzman [101/327 X 3,678,848 7/1972 Roser et a1101/125 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Paul '1'.Sewell AnomeyKenneth T. Snow [571' ABSTRACT An ink reservoir for astencil printing rockable hand stamp having a rectangularly shapedshallow container with a flanged perimeter outlining an opening in thecontainer and formed in a singlesmooth arcuate curve, and a generallyrectangularly shaped arcuately curved perforated member arranged forremovable snug engagement with the opening of the container.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures HANDPRINTER CONSTRUCTION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Stencil printing hand stamps of therockable type have been available for many years. These hand stampsincluded an ink reservoir with a screen on one side thereof to provideink for a stencil. The screen was usually soldered, brazed or welded tothe reservoir. The reservoir was shallow and with only a small openingto replenish ink it was impossible to effectively clean the reservoir inthe event the ink became dry or caked. Many inks are corrosive andattack certain materials and thus it is desirable to plate or otherwisecoat the reservoir to minimize the corrosive damage caused by the inks.Obviously the affixing of the screen or perforated member to thereservoir container had to be done before the plating or coating and asa result the interior of the reservoir was never adequately plated by aprocess that occurred after the assembly was completed.

The present invention employs substantially the same devices but theperforated member is made in an arcuate shape and arranged to beremovably attached to the shallow ink reservoir container. Thus thereare no cor-' ners or crevices that cannot be cleaned and the parts maybe separately plated or coated as desired with the interiors all beingeffectively covered for full protection against corrosive or chemicallyattacking inks. No feasible way was previously known to acceptablyconstruct the ink reservoir in two separable parts. Further it wasthought the problems of sealing of the perforated member in thecontainer against excessive ink leaking would be too great. Theconstruction of the device of this invention is such that the joints aresealed only with greater accuracy than the cross sectional area of oneof the openings in the perforated member. Thus the generally liquid orflowable ink seeks the larger openings of the perforated member ratherthan the joints between the removably attached screen to the inkreservoir container.

2. Description of the Prior Art Hand stamps are common appurtenances inmost offices but these are the kind with rubber type which are firstpressed against an ink pad and then pressed against a surface to beimprinted. The hand stamp with which we are presently concernedand'which is becoming almost as extensive in use as the rubber stamp isof the stencil printing kind which has its own supply of ink to comefrom inside outwardly through the stencil so that when it is pressedagainst a surface to receive an imprinting it causes a transfer of theindicia cut on the stencil to that surface. This requires either apre-inked pad or a screen or perforated member located between an inksupply and the stencil carrying impression pad.

The very old US. Pat. to Pritchard No. 1,170,932 shows and describes anopen top box 71 to carry a supply of ink. The box 71 has a perforatedbottom for the distribution of ink to a stencil pressing pad. Thesomewhat later U.S. Pat. to Pritchard No. 1,445,447 shows substantiallythe same basic construction with the improvement lying in the means offastening a stencil thereto. Extreme care would have to be given in theuse of the Pritchard stamps because any great pressure or rocking wouldobviously cause the ink to run over the top of the box 71 resulting inink leaking freely out of the stamp.

The US. Pat. to Madden No. 1,782,877 also shows a stencil printing handstamp which employs a box type screen for delivering ink to the stencilpressing pad. In all of Pritchard, Pritchard and Madden the screen orperforated member is separate from the ink carrying box but the boxesare loosely positioned in the hand stamp assembly and no one of themcould function as such a stamp would be presently used in a shippingroom where a number of packages are imprinted with the same indicia by ashipping clerk pressing the stamp against the boxes to be imprinted atall angles.

Later the Thomas US. Pats. Nos. 2,667,] 19 and 2,765,737 show inkreservoirs sealed and the bottoms perforated in certain areas to deliverink to the stencil pressing pad. However, with such constructions, therewas no feasible way to clean or otherwise service the interiors of sucha stamp. The stamp of the present invention obviates all of thedeficiencies of the above identified earlier stencil printing handstamps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the present invention isto provide a stencil handprinter constructed so that its ink reservoiris completely disassemblable to permit cleaning and servicing of theinterior.

An important object of this invention is to provide a novel rockingstyle stencil handprinter which includes an ink reservoir of a shallowcontainer having one side open and with a perforated member press fittedinto the container through the open side thereof.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a rocking stylestencil handprinter as defined in the preceding object and furtherincluding an outwardly projecting peripheral flange around the openingin the container and the perforated member having its exposed surfacelying flush with the peripheral flange.

Another and still further important object of this invention is toprovide a rocking style stencil handprinter as defined in the precedingobject and further including the flush surfaces as a smooth arcuatecurve about which the handprinter may rock.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide an inkreservoir for a stencil printing hand stamp having a shallowrectangularly shaped container open on one side and the openingsurrounded by an outwardly projecting flange, and a perforated memberhaving side flanges bent at substantially right angles thereto andadapted to snuggly engage the internal sides of the container. 7

Another and still further important object of this invention is toprovide a stencil printing hand stamp as defined in the preceding objectand further including the perforated member as having end extending lipsto superimpose the container flanges at the ends thereof.

Stillanother important object of this invention is to provide the deviceof the preceding object with the container flanges at the ends thereofrecessed an amount equal to the thickness of the perforated member tothereby provide for the outer surfaces of the container and theperforated member lying flush one with the other.

Other and further important objects and advantages will become apparentfrom the disclosures in the following specification and accompanyingdrawings.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view with parts thereofin elevational of the handprinter of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an explodedview of the ink reservoir as used in thehandprinter of FIGS. 1 and 2.

AS SHOWN IN THE DRAWINGS The reference numeral indicates generally abacking member for the handprinter of this invention. The member 10might also be termed a top plate and is rectangular in shape. The plate10 is provided with a short depending peripheral skirt 1] and in thecenter of the top is provided with an aperture 12. A handle 13 has athreaded shank 14 which projects downwardly and is arranged to passthrough the aperture 12 in the backing member 10.

The stencil handprinter of this invention includes an ink reservoircontainer designated generally by the numeral 15. The container 15 has aclosed top or back 16 which is arranged to lie parallel to and closelyadjacent the underside of the backing member 10. A reinforcing member 17is weldably or otherwise fastened to the center of the top 16 on theinside thereof. The reinforced center section of the top is providedwith an internally threaded opening 18 for the purpose of threadedlyreceiving the handles downwardly extending threaded shank 14. Thestencil printing hand stamp of this invention thus has the conventionalbacking or top member 10, the handle 13 and an ink reservoir 15.

The reservoir container 15 is provided around its lower edge or bottomside with a rectangular shaped full perimeter flange 19 which in itsentirety forms a smooth arcuate convex curve as viewed from the end ofthe hand stamp. The full perimeter flange 19 of sides and ends defines alarge rectangular opening 20 positioned substantially in the center ofthe'bottom of the container 15 and being of a size substantially thesame as the top side 16 of that container. Small diameter internallythreaded apertures 21 are provided at each corner of the closed top 16of the reservoir container 15. Short machine screws 22 pass verticallydownwardly through the backing member 10 and thereupon threadedly engagethe apertures 21 in the container 15 to thereby affix the reservoir 15to the backing member 10. The threaded engagement of the handle shank 14with the internally threaded opening 18 acts as an auxiliary means forholding the reservoir and the back together. A sealing gasket of cork orother suitable material 23 is provided between the handle 13 and the inkreservoir 15.

The handle 13 is equipped with a central bore 24 which facilitates theapplication of the threaded shank 14 to the handle during itsfabrication. The handle may be made of any suitable material but it isdesirable that the shank 14 be made of a hard material for propercooperation with the internal threads of the reservoir.

The ink reservoir in addition to the container 15 includes a separatecomplementary perforated or screen member designated generally by thenumeral 25. The separate perforated member includes a rectangularlyshaped central portion 26 substantially the same in overall size as thebottom opening 20 in the container 15. The perforated member is providedwith upwardly bent generally parallel side flanges 27 and 28. Theseflanges or side walls 27 and 28 although being almost disposed at rightangles to the central portion 26 are inclined slightly outwardly so thatwhen they are inserted into the container 15 for nesting of the separateperforated member 25 within the container 15 they act as springs whichexert an outward force against the insides of the side walls of thecontainer. The perforated member 25 is also provided with end extendinglips 29 and 30. These end lips [are for the purpose of overlyingportions of the ends of the perimeter flange 19 to thereupon givesupport to the perforated or screen member 25 when downward stampingpressure is imposed thereon. The central rectangular portion 26 of theper forated member and including its end extensions is formed in asingle arcuate plane in a smooth arcuate convex curve identical to thesmooth arcuate convex curve of the full perimeter flange 19 so that whenthe parts are brought together in a nesting the complete underside ofthe combined container 15 and perforated member 25 form one continuoussmooth arcuate convex curve. In use the handprinter rocks around thiscurved bottom. To insure this smooth curve the ends of the perimeterflange 19 are recessed or depressed at 31 and 32 on those portionsaligned with the end lips of the screen 25. The recesses have a depthequal to the thickness of the screen to permit the screen's integrallips to fit into the recesses thereby insuring that the wholeundersurface of the handprinter is flush as desired.

A pressure pad 33, made of any suitable material to directly impart inkto a stencil, is placed over the smooth arcuate undersurface of thecombined screen member 25 and the container 15. The pad 33 is generallyrectangular in shape and its lateral side edges are equipped withV-shaped crimped on side clips 34 and 35 respectively. These V-shapedclips are arranged and constructed to fit over the side edges of theperimeter flange l9 and thus securely hold the pad to the underside ofthe handprinter.

The stamp is further provided with hingedly mounted side skirt-likeclamps generally designated by the numerals 36 and 37. The lower ends ofthe skirts are inwardly angled as shown at 38 and 39. These lower ends38 and 39 of the skirts are spring biased against the side edges of thepad for the purpose of firmly holding a stencil to the pad. Each skirt36 and 37 is provided with a finger engaging upward extension 40 and 41respectively. The finger portions 40 and 41 are disposed substantiallyin the center of the skirts and pass upwardly through slots in thebacking member 10 along the side edges and at the center thereof. Theskirts are further provided with angled inwardly and downwardly inclinedflanges 42 and 43 respectively along the upper edges thereof on bothsides of the finger engaging portions. Relatively narrow leaf typesprings 44 and 45 extend across the ends of the hand stamp on the underside of the backing member 10. Small screws 46 and 47 pass downwardlythrough the ends of the backing member 10 to engage the leaf springs 44and 45 at substantially their centers. The angled or bell-crank shapedflanges 42 and 43 are disposed beneath the outer free ends of the leafsprings 44 and 45 respectively to thus spring bias the skirts inwardlyfor engagement with the pressure pad 33. This insures that the inwardlyangled lower ends 38 and 39 of the skirts 36 and 37 will securely hold astencil to the underside of the ink dispensing pad 33. To insert astencil the finger engaging portions 40 and 41 are squeezed togethercausing the lower ends of the skirts 36 and 37 to swing outwardly so theinwardly angled lower edges 38 and 39 will move away from theirengagement with the stamp pad 33. At this time a stencil may be placedover the underside of the pad 33 and the side edges tucked under thelower edges of the skirts. Now the hand or finger engaging portions 40and 41 are released whereupon the springing action causes the loweredges of the side skirts to grip and hold the stencil to the undersideof the pad.

OPERATION Assembly of the handprinter of this invention has beendescribed above. Now, let us assume the stamp has not been used for sometime and the ink has caked and dried out. The operator first removes anystencils that may be on the pad. Then he takes the pad 33 off the stampby rocking the V-shaped side edges off from their engagement with theouter free side edges of the perimeter flange 19. This exposes thecomplete ink reservoir. With any instrument such as a thin screw driverthe perforated member 25 is lifted out of the container 15. Now all ofthe container is open and the ink may be scraped or cleaned out of allthe comers thereof. Also, the screen 25 may be easily. immersed in asolvent or scraped free of ink. This rejuvenates the entire stamp and itmay then be used as a new stamp. Previously when the screen was solderedor otherwise permanently attached to the ink reservoir container thetask of cleaning out caked ink was almost an impossible task. One mayask why this is so important. When you are reproducing indicia cut in astencil it is imperative that ink flows uniformly throughout the fullarea of the stencil and if some of the holes in the perforated memberare clogged or one or more of the four corners of the rectangularcontainer contain caked ink the flow will not be uniform through thestencil and any reproduction thereof will be a failure.

Also, in the making of the handprinter it can be much improved byapplying protective coatings to the separate container and screen sothat all of the minute corners thereof will be uniformly coated.Previously the ink reservoir had to be plated after the joining of thecontainer and screen because welding or soldering could not be doneafter the coating appications without destroying the coatings. Thepurpose of giving a metallic plating to the parts is to give thereservoir an outer material which will not be attacked by any corrosiveaction of the inks used in the printer. Also, there are now certainplastic coatings to which ink will not adhere to thus permit easycleaning of the hand stamp. It is therefore desirable to plate the partswith a metal such as cadmium and to thereafter coat the parts with asuitable plastic.

This new handprinter requires very accurate tooling in order to permitthe necessarily close fitting of the two parts of the reservoir but oncemade the printer operates more efficiently than the previously solderedreservoir and the fact that it may be disassembled is of the utmostimportance. Applicant has designed the two parts so ingeniously that thetwo parts may be easily pushed together to produce a flush smootharcuate curve over the full underside of the ink reservoir with itsjoined container and its perforated member 25.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be variedthroughout a wide range without departing from the disclosures madeherein and I do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwisethan as necessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ink reservoir for a stencil printing rockable hand stampcomprising a rectangularly shaped shallow container having an enclosedtop side and a bottom side, the bottom side having a rectangular shapedopen ing in the center thereof of a size substantially the same as thetop side of the container, said opening in the bottom side defined by anoutwardly extending full flanged perimeter, the bottom side of thecontainer with its outwardly extending full flanged perimeter beingconvex in a smooth arcuate convex curve as viewed from one end, aseparate rectangularly shaped perforated member having a main centralportion curved in a smooth arcuate convex curve identical to the convexarcuate curve of the bottom side of the container as defined by theoutwardly extending full flanged perimeter of the bottom side of thecontainer, said separate perforated member having upwardly bent sideflanges of a height no greater than the depth of the shallow containerat the position of engagement of the side flanges with the container,means removably nesting said separate perforated member within theopening in the bottom side of said container, said means including thecooperation of the upwardly bent side flanges of the separate perforatedmember with the interior walls of the container, whereby when theperforated member is fully nested within the container they togetherprovide a smooth arcuate convex curve with the arcuate convex curvedportion of the perforated member lying flush with and in the samearcuate convex curved plane of the outwardly flanged perimeter of thecontainer.

2. An ink reservoir for a stencil printing rockable hand stampcomprising a rectangularly shaped shallow container having an enclosedtop side and a bottom side, the bottom side having a rectangular shapedopening in the center thereof of a size substantially the same as thetop side of the container, said opening in the bottom side defined by anoutwardly extending full flanged perimeter over the sides and ends, thebottom side of the container with its outwardly extending full flangedperimeter being convex in a smooth arcuate convex curve as viewed fromone end, a separate rectangularly shaped perforated member having a maincentral portion convexly curved in a smooth arcuate convex curveidentical to the convex arcuate curve of the bottom side of thecontainer as defined by the outwardly extending full flanged perimeterof the bottom side of the container, said separate perforated memberhaving upwardly bent side flanges for engaging the inside walls of saidcontainer, said separate perforated member having extension lips at eachend thereof, said end extension lips lying in the same plane as the maincentral portion of the separate perforated member, said containerflanges having portions adjacent the ends of said rectangular shapedopening over the area of the end extension lips of the separateperforated member depressed to a depth of the thickness of theperforated member and its end extension lips whereby when the separateperforated member is nested within the shallow container the upwardlybent side flanges of the perforated member snuggly engage the insidewalls of the container and the end extension lips thereof rest in thedepressed portions of the end flanges of the container with the resultthat the convexly curved main portion of the perforated member liesflush with the curved perimeter flange of the container and thedepressed portions act 'to support the perforated member in its curvedshape.

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1. An ink reservoir for a stencil printing rockable hand stampcomprising a rectangularly shaped shallow container having an enclosedtop side and a bottom side, the bottom side having a rectangular shapedopening in the center thereof of a size substantially the same as thetop side of the container, said opening in the bottom side defined by anoutwardly extending full flanged perimeter, the bottom side of thecontainer with its outwardly extending full flanged perimeter beingconvex in a smooth arcuate convex curve as viewed from one end, aseparate rectangularly shaped perforated member having a main centralportion curved in a smooth arcuate convex curve identical to the convexarcuate curve of the bottom side of the container as defined by theoutwardly extending full flanged perimeter of the bottom side of thecontainer, said separate perforated member having upwardly bent sideflanges of a height no greater than the depth of the shallow containerat the position of engagement of the side flanges with the container,means removably nesting said separate perforated member within theopening in the bottom side of said container, said means including thecooperation of the upwardly bent side flanges of the separate perforatedmember with the interior walls of the container, whereby when theperforated member is fully nested within the container they togetherprovide a smooth arcuate convex curve with the arcuate convex curvedportion of the perforated member lying flush with and in the samearcuate convex curved plane of the outwardly flanged perimeter of thecontainer.
 2. An ink reservoir for a stencil printing rockable handstamp comprising a rectangularly shaped shallow container having anenclosed top side and a bottom side, the bottom side hAving arectangular shaped opening in the center thereof of a size substantiallythe same as the top side of the container, said opening in the bottomside defined by an outwardly extending full flanged perimeter over thesides and ends, the bottom side of the container with its outwardlyextending full flanged perimeter being convex in a smooth arcuate convexcurve as viewed from one end, a separate rectangularly shaped perforatedmember having a main central portion convexly curved in a smooth arcuateconvex curve identical to the convex arcuate curve of the bottom side ofthe container as defined by the outwardly extending full flangedperimeter of the bottom side of the container, said separate perforatedmember having upwardly bent side flanges for engaging the inside wallsof said container, said separate perforated member having extension lipsat each end thereof, said end extension lips lying in the same plane asthe main central portion of the separate perforated member, saidcontainer flanges having portions adjacent the ends of said rectangularshaped opening over the area of the end extension lips of the separateperforated member depressed to a depth of the thickness of theperforated member and its end extension lips whereby when the separateperforated member is nested within the shallow container the upwardlybent side flanges of the perforated member snuggly engage the insidewalls of the container and the end extension lips thereof rest in thedepressed portions of the end flanges of the container with the resultthat the convexly curved main portion of the perforated member liesflush with the curved perimeter flange of the container and thedepressed portions act to support the perforated member in its curvedshape.